Obama's pro-life critic

By BEN SMITH

08/19/2008 11:38 AM EDT

Since long before Obama entered the presidential contest, Illinois conservatives have cited his opposition to a state bill called the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. But while the cause seems rather hard to oppose — the bill nominally aims to prevent the murder of children who have been born — the debate is firmed up around the old, familiar and utterly polarized lines of the abortion debate, a fact the identity of his long-time critic on the issue makes clear.

The bill, which Obama opposed in various iterations in the Illinois state Senate, aims to bar killing infants who have already been born, an utterly uncontroversial stance. Obama opposed it in Illinois, as did women's groups there, because they thought it was a backdoor way to regulate abortion. (It was an Alan Keyes favorite in 2004.) The newest twist on the story is that he opposed one version identical to a version passed by Congress (on the grounds, again, that it has no effect), arguing that it would have different implications under state than federal law.

The New York Sun has the clearest coverage of the argument, and David Freddoso dwells on it in his book. But given that the bottom line is that the bill has only passed when its critics are satisfied that it's utterly meaningless, this doesn't seem like a particularly substantive debate over whether or not he wants to kill living infants.

The notion that this fight is actually about killing live babies, rather than regulating abortion, seems a bit absurd; however, the website of the Illinois activist who championed the legislation, Jill Stanek, bears that out.

It turns out she doesn't just oppose child-murder. Or late-term abortion. Or abortion. She's also against condoms — in Africa. She's raising money for more billboards in Tanzania with the message: "Faithful condom users die."